‘We Are What We Keep; We Keep What We Are’: Archival Appraisal Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Archival appraisal has its own history and is highly contested ground within the profession, and increasingly with our external communities. This article analyses the evolution of appraisal thinking through three well-established phases: the curatorial guardian assigning appraisal responsibility to the creator or administrator of records; the historian-archivist making appraisal decisions indirectly through the filter of trends in academic History; and the archivist as expert directly assessing contexts of function and activity to discern appraisal value. A fourth phase is now beckoning: participatory appraisal with various communities of citizens so that silences long haunting our archives may at last be heard.